Saturday, July 26, 2014

Panthers in the Hole: French Angola 3 Book Illustrates US Prison Crisis --An interview with Nicolas Krameyer of Amnesty International France

(You can buy Panthers in the Hole, the new graphic novel about the Angola 3 here.)

Panthers
in the Hole: French Angola 3 Book Illustrates US Prison Crisis

--An
interview with Nicolas Krameyer of Amnesty International France

By
Angola 3 News

Amnesty
International France and La Boîte à Bulleshave published a 128-page French language graphic novel entitled Panthers in the Hole. The book's co-authors David Cénou and Bruno Cénou present with visual art what Amnesty France describes as "la tragique histoire des Trois d'Angola" (the tragic story of the Angola 3).

Robert H. King, Herman Wallace, and Albert Woodfox are the trio of Black Panther political prisoners known collectively as the Angola 3. On October 1, 2013 Herman Wallace
was dramatically released from prison after 41 years in solitary
confinement. At the time of his release, he had been fighting terminal
liver cancer for several months. Three days later, on Oct. 4, Herman was
surrounded by loved ones as he passed on at a friend’s house in New
Orleans, Louisiana.

Robert King spent 29 years in continuous solitary confinement until his
conviction was overturned and he was released from Louisiana's infamous
Angola State Prison in 2001. Himself the subject of a recent Canadian film, King spoke in Paris, France this past May at an event celebrating the release of Panthers in the Hole and has traveled Europe many times while on earlier speaking tours.

To further discuss the release of Panthers in the Hole and Amnesty France's broader support for Albert Woodfox and the Angola 3, we interviewed Nicolas Krameyer, who is head of the Individuals at Risk / Human Rights Defenders Program for
Amnesty International France. A sample of images from Panthers in the Hole are featured throughout the interview.

(PHOTO: Robert King at the Panthers in the Hole book launch in Paris, France organized by Amnesty France. A photo of Albert Woodfox is projected on the screen.)

Angola 3 News:Can
you please tell us about your recent work related to the Angola 3?

Nicolas Krameyer:Amnesty France has made the Angola 3 (A3) a
priority campaign.

We
included Albert and Herman’s case as part of our biggest annual event, known as
Write for Rights in December 2012. In
just a few weeks, at least 50,000 supporters signed the petition for an end to their
solitary confinement.

We
also organized a solidarity campaign where activists sent Herman and Albert
messages of support. The letter-writers quickly received very strong and moving
answers from Herman and Albert, which we then shared among other activists.

A
few months later, we invited Robert King for a two-week speaking tour in France
and Brussels, which gave national media coverage to the A3 and the widespread
use of solitary confinement in the USA. Both the A3 case and the issue of
solitary confinement were totally unknown to the general public. Even the
partners and institutions with whom we normally work on human rights activism
were not familiar with these issues.

A3N:What do
you think are the main reasons for the French public's interest?

NK:Beside the widespread publicity, I think
there are 3 key factors that explain why so many people feel now concerned
about the Angola 3 case:

(1)
The monstrous nature of the case. There are very few examples in the world of
such a blatant human rights violation for such a long period of time: more than
4 decades!

(2)
The audience could follow the different steps of the clear campaign of
vengeance lead by the local Louisiana authorities, like when the prosecutor
appealed Albert’s third overturned conviction, or in October 2013 when the State
authorities did their most to impede Herman’s release despite his health. That
clearly angered people here in France, and one indicator of this was that journalists
were publishing articles every time something new happened, which is quite
rare.

(3)
Lastly, this has been made possible because of Robert’s presence and strength, which
he clearly communicated to all types of audiences, from the media to French
officials and activists.

A3N:Overall,
how do you think Amnesty France’s A3 and anti-solitary campaigning has impacted
France?

NK:Previously, solitary confinement was not
really considered a big human rights issue, except for some rare experts or USA
specialists here. Guantanamo and death penalty continue to be the two main public
topics in regards to human rights violations known in France. The A3 and Robert
King gave a face to that common practice of cruel and inhumane treatment in the
USA.

Even
if we can’t go into details here, we know that probably for first time, French
and EU governments officially raised this issue with their US counterparts.

A3N:Can you tell us more about the new graphic novel, entitled Panthers in the Hole? How has it been received since being released in May?

NK:The comic book gives the local historical
context leading up to the A3’s horrific situation. The historic racism and the
political context of the 60’s and 70’s is very present in the book. In short,
the content is a mix between Robert’s autobiography and the documentary film In the Land of the Free. However, the
authors have also read and researched a lot about Angola prison and the
different trial transcripts of the three men.

Visually,
I really like how the authors recreated the atmosphere of the 60’s, which gives
a special strength to the book. It is a bit as if In the Land of the Free had been covering the past 50 years of the
story. Importantly, it also moves a different audience that is not necessarily
familiar with human rights issues.

So
far, 2 months later, sales have been strong and feedback received from the editor
suggests the book has been well received.

A3N:With
over 2.4 million prisoners, today, the US has the highest incarceration rate in
the world. Do you
think the crisis of mass incarceration relates to the widespread practice of solitary
confinement in US prisons, especially considering that solitary confinement has
been shown to increase recidivism rates?

NK:Amnesty does not take a position on the
incarceration rate a nation has. However, the widespread and routine use of
long term solitary confinement in the US is not only contrary to international
human rights law, as a clear form of inhumane treatment that amounts to
torture. It also does contribute to recidivism because it greatly hinders the
possibility for a rehabilitation process when the detainee comes out.

In short,
it is not only morally wrong, it is clearly inefficient, and also very
expensive.

A3N:As
African American leader Malcolm X was developing his internationalist and
anti-capitalist politics in the months leading up to his February 1965
assassination, he spoke about the need to shift from a focus on ‘civil rights’
to one of ‘human rights.’ He announced further that he would be seeking
assistance from the United Nations to rectify the human rights abuses being
committed by the US government against the African American community. How can international
pressure influence a country as powerful as the US, who has openly violated
human rights laws and treaties like at the infamous Guantanamo Bay and Bagram
prisons that Amnesty International has criticized?

NK:I would say that the US’ power within the
international community presents both a challenge and an opportunity for the
international community, or as Robert King would say, the international court
of public opinion.

It
is a challenge because many nations don’t want to confront the US on human
rights issues. This is true even, and sometimes especially with ‘friends’ and
traditional allies like EU countries. It is a shame how EU countries can adopt
a double discourse on human rights that varies depending on the nation they
have dialogue with. This is despite the fact that as friends and allies of the US, they
definitely could use their influence more effectively than other countries.

It
is an opportunity because in order to maintain its power, the US needs not only
to engage the rest of the world on military or economic levels, but also on
what is called “soft power.” Thismeans
that for the US to still be considered a leading country, it has also to be
recognized for the human rights record they have.

Being
isolated on human rights issues or other international issues, being regularly
criticized within the intergovernmental bodies or in the international media,
is not beneficial to the US as a nation, even if the US media or public opinion
does not talk so much about these issues. That’s what happens in a way
regarding the death penalty. Being one of the biggest executioners, with only
very authoritarian regimes doing the same, is not good for the US image.

A3N:Shifting
focus to France, what types of human rights violations are you currently
focusing on within your own country? How widespread are human rights violations
in the French criminal justice system? To what extent is prolonged solitary
confinement used in France?

NK:The main human rights violations that we as
Amnesty oppose are not in the criminal justice system, although it is clearly
not perfect: from what I know from other expert NGOs on the matter, prison
conditions in France are a real shame and are regularly criticized by
international bodies such as the European Court on human rights.

Impunity
for excessive violence or abuses committed by police officers is also a great
matter of concern in France.

However,
the main issues we as Amnesty have to tackle right now in France, and more
generally in Europe, are the rights of migrants. Today in Europe, borders are clearly
more important than people’s lives and this policy results in massive human
rights violations, including right to life, with migrants dying in the
Mediterranean Sea or being held in inhumane detention centers just for trying
to escape the problems in their country and for wanting a better life.

Another
key focus of ours relates to the discrimination faced by marginalized groups
like Muslims and above all, rights of Roma communities.

A3N:As
activists, we can often learn important lessons from other communities’
struggles for justice around the world. Based upon your work and victories in
France, what is your advice for human rights activists in the US who are
working around prison issues?

NK:It is a very hard question, but I would
recommend inviting activists and specialists from other countries and other
contexts to share their best practices and experiences with US activists.This helps to see the common aspects of the fight
and what worked well. It also helps to identify what is specific to your own
local context and what therefore has to be addressed specifically in your
community.

A3N:Any
closing thoughts?

NK:Free Albert!

--Angola 3 News
is a project of the International Coalition to Free the Angola 3. Our website
is www.angola3news.com where we provide the latest news about the Angola 3. We
are also creating our own media projects, which spotlight the issues central to
the story of the Angola 3, like racism, repression, prisons, human rights,
solitary confinement as torture, and more.

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Read Robert H. King's Autobiography

Angola 3 Basics

44 years ago, deep in rural Louisiana, three young black men were silenced for trying to expose continued segregation, systematic corruption, and horrific abuse in the biggest prison in the US, an 18,000 acre former slave plantation called Angola.

Peaceful, non-violent protest in the form of hunger and work strikes organized by inmates caught the attention of Louisiana’s elected leaders and local media in the early 1970s. They soon called for investigations into a host of unconstitutional and extraordinarily inhumane practices commonplace in what was then the “bloodiest prison in the South.” Eager to put an end to outside scrutiny, prison officials began punishing inmates they saw as troublemakers.

At the height of this unprecedented institutional chaos, Herman Wallace, Albert Woodfox, and Robert King were charged with murders they did not commit and thrown into 6x9 foot solitary cells where they remained for decades.

“Hezekiah was one you could put words in his mouth,” the Warden reminisced chillingly in an interview about the case years later.

Notably, Teenie Rogers, the widow of the victim, prison guard Brent Miller, after reviewing the evidence believed Herman and Albert’s trials were unfair, expressed grave doubts about their guilt, and called upon officials to find the real killer. "“Each time I look at the evidence in this case, I remember there is no proof that the men charged with Brent’s death are the ones who actually killed him. It’s easy to get caught up in vengeance and anger, but when I look at the facts, they just do not add up,” said Rogers in 2013.

Albert’s conviction was overturned three times by judges citing racial discrimination, prosecutorial misconduct, inadequate defense, and suppression of exculpatory evidence. While the case worked its way through endless appeals, Louisiana officials refused to release Albert from solitary, even when no longer convicted of the crime, because “there’s been no rehabilitation” from “practicing Black Pantherism.”4

Finally, Albert was released in February of 2016, 43 years and 10 months after first being put in isolation for a crime he didn’t commit.

Louisiana today has the highest incarceration rate in the US—thus the highest in the world.

Three-fourths of the 5,000+ prisoners at Angola are African American. And due to some of the harshest sentencing practices in the nation, 97% will die there.

Reminiscent of a bygone era, inmates still harvest cotton, corn and wheat for 4 to 20 cents an hour under the watchful eye of armed guards on horseback.

We believe that only by openly examining the failures and inequities of the criminal justice system in America can we restore integrity to that system.

We must not wait.

We can make a difference.

As the A3 did years before, now is the time to challenge injustice and demand that the innocent and wrongfully incarcerated be freed.

Cruel and Unusual Punishment

In 2000, Herman, Albert and Robert filed a civil lawsuit challenging the inhumane and increasingly pervasive practice of long-term solitary confinement. Magistrate Judge Dalby described their decades of isolation as “so far beyond the pale” she could not find “anything even remotely comparable in the annals of American jurisprudence.” Over the course of 16 years, this seminal case detailed unconstitutionally cruel and unusual treatment and systematic due process violations at the hands of Louisiana officials and inspired worldwide action to end long term solitary.

Support Our Work!

Stepping Across to Freedom

Please join us in laying the foundation for Albert’s new life. We’ll never be able to make up for over four decades in solitary but those of us in minimum security know how costly life out here can be. 100% of all donations will be given directly to Albert.

You can use the "Support Our Work" donate button (directly above) or go directly to our fiscal sponsor, Community Futures Collective and designate "Albert" in the memo.

From the entire Angola 3 community- thank you.

Amnesty International video interview with Robert H King: "Slavery Still Reigns in US Prisons"

Angola 3 News, a project of the International Coalition to Free the Angola 3, presents the latest news about the A3, and we also create our own media projects, spotlighting the issues central to the story of the A3, like racism, repression, prisons, human rights, solitary confinement as torture, and more. Our articles and videos have been published by Alternet, Truthout, Black Commentator, Black Agenda Report, SF Bay View Newspaper, Counterpunch, Facing South, Poor Magazine, Monthly Review, Z Magazine, LA Progressive, Dissident Voice, New Clear Vision, Nation of Change, Infoshop News, WW4 Report, Firedoglake, Indymedia, and many others.

Please help spread the word about our website and online networking at You Tube, Care2, Twitter, Facebook. For more info, please contact the A3 Coalition and visit our other websites:

Kenny 'Zulu' Whitmore

Zulu has been in Louisiana State Prison, Angola, LA since March 14, 1977. He had been in jail since 1975.

After threats and torture if he did not plead guilty, an unfair trial and the use of false information, Zulu was in '77 sentenced to life + 99 years for the 1973 murder of the former mayor of a small town, in which he had no part whatsoever.

Get a Zulu T-Shirt

FreeZulu.org

Kenny 'Zulu' Whitmore

“Zulu is a true warrior, Panther, a servant of the people. He has fought a good battle, for so long, unrecognized, unsupported!” --Robert Hillary King

ABOUT ZULU:

I am Kenny Zulu Whitmore. I have been enslaved in one of the most brutal and bloodiest prisons in the USA, Angola, LA, the "last slave plantation". Framed for a murder I never committed I have been in solitary confinement for over 30 years now.....

In December 1973 I was arrested on frivolous charges and held over for a magistrate hearing where a bond would be set. While awaiting my court appearance I found myself in a cage right across from a black man who struck me as a fearsome revolutionary. It turned out to be Herman Wallace. I was impressed with his words of wisdom, which enabled me to better understand the treatment and condition of my community by the police. I felt honored just to have been in his presence. There were others on the unit, but all you could hear was the voice of Herman. We talked all through the night after he learned why I was arrested. He explained that if my concern was to protect the people, my only route of doing so would be to educate myself of the political Kingdom and then organize the people to effectively challenge the ill that cripple the people. I realized my speaking out against drug dealers and police brutality alone would be viewed as a personal war and wouldn't achieve anything.

Herman told me he and others had established a chapter of the Black Panther Party in Angola, to fight against prison corruption. I gave him all my information because what he spoke of was what I needed in my life. I dare say it was my first true political education. The next day I learned he was there on trial for the death of a prison guard. At that time I believed he didn't stand a chance. In the mean time history has proven I was wrong. However, instead of focusing on his trial, he had many questions about community service and conditions. I ended up giving him my name and address. He told me he was officially making me a member of the Angola Chapter of the Black Panther Party. I was very honored but I had no idea what this man expected of me. But I knew about the Panthers and so I went back to the community with the idea of organizing the community against illegal drug trafficking.

On February 19, 1975 I was arrested again. This time charged with two counts of armed robbery of a Zachary shoe store. In June of 1975 all charges were dropped after both victims argued with the judge that I was not the person who did this crime. But I still couldn't go free...Read more here.WRITE ZULU: